Fury at government over worst Turkish mine disaster

Anger has erupted against the Turkish government after a deadly coal mine disaster in the western town of Soma.

People in Soma hurled abuse as they surrounded PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan's car during his visit to the scene of the tragedy, and protesters clashed with police in Istanbul and Ankara.

An explosion on Tuesday caused the pit to collapse, killing at least 274.

The latest rise in the death toll means it is the worst such incident in the country's history.

Rescuers are still hunting desperately for scores of miners who are missing feared dead, but Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said the mine was still on fire hampering their efforts.

Nearly 450 workers have been rescued, according to the mine operator, though government officials gave a lower figure of 363.

At the scene

By James ReynoldsBBC News, Soma

"My son was two months away from retirement," sobbed an elderly woman waiting at Soma's hospital. She held up two fingers to make her point and closed her eyes to stop herself from crying any further.

The hospital grounds have been taken over by the families of the trapped miners. Their wait has now become a vigil. Some sit and stare at the ground. Others sob. Every few minutes paramedics clear the crowd to take away someone who has fainted.

Dozens press up against the blue police barricades set up at the entrance to the hospital. They're desperate for news of the trapped miners. And they have nowhere else to go.

However, no survivors have been found since dawn on Wednesday and more than 100 are still thought to be unaccounted for.

Eighty of those rescued have been treated for injuries, none of which were described as serious.

'Insensitive' charge

Local media reports said protesters in Soma kicked Mr Erdogan's car and called for his resignation after he gave a news conference on the disaster.

He was booed as he emerged from his car. Some arrests were made amid the scuffles and pictures showed the prime minister, surrounded by bodyguards, seeking refuge in a shop. Protesters also attacked the town's ruling AK party offices.

Meanwhile police in the capital, Ankara, fired tear gas and water cannon at about 800 protesters who tried to march from a university to the energy ministry.

There were also reports of a protest in Istanbul outside the headquarters of Soma Holding, the company that owns the mine.

Mr Erdogan has faced criticism on social media for being insensitive, after he cited numerous mining accidents throughout the world, including in Britain in the 19th Century, in defending the Turkish government's record.

He said every effort would be made to find the missing miners, and promised a full investigation.

After 30 people died in a mining disaster in 2010, Prime Minister Erdogan said: 'Unfortunately, this profession has this in its destiny.'

"I just want everybody to know that the disaster will be investigated in every aspect and will continue to be investigated and we are not going to allow any negligence, or leave any stone unturned," he said.

The BBC's James Reynolds in Soma says Mr Erdogan will see this tragedy as a test of his reputation, and he will be aware that the previous government lost an election after being seen to have mishandled the 1999 earthquake.

Earlier Mr Erdogan announced three days of mourning for the victims.

Electrical fault

How it happened

Electrical fault triggers blast

Explosion leads to power cut, disabling mine cages

Carbon monoxide sweeps through mine's tunnels and galleries

Fire still burning

Our correspondent says family members of missing miners gathered at the hospital. They told him they would not move from there until they got information about their loved ones.

Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said 787 people had been inside the mine when an electrical fault triggered the blast soon after midday on Tuesday. Many of them died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Fires were reportedly still burning in the mine 18 hours after the blast.

Dogan news agency reported that one of the dead miners, named as Kemal Yildiz, was only 15 years old.

The electrical fault triggered a power cut, making the mine cages unusable. Those trapped are reported to be 2km (1.2 miles) below the surface and 4km from the mine entrance.

Some arrests were made as protesters clashed with police in Soma

Protesters threw fire bombs at police in Ankara

Police responded with tear gas and made arrests

Scuffles have also broken out in Istanbul

People still waiting for news of missing relatives gathered at the hospital in Soma, Manisa province

Hours after the explosion, TV footage showed rescuers helping workers from the mine, their faces and hard-hats covered in soot and dust and some on stretchers.

Only the dead were being recovered by mid-morning on Wednesday.

Coal mining is a major industry in the Soma area, helping to supply a nearby lignite-fired thermal power plant, but safety has long been a concern. Nearly 40% of Turkey's electricity production depends on coal.

Turkish mining industry

1,308

Fatal accidents since 2000

263 Died in 1992 disaster

13,000 Miners involved in accidents in 2013

10.4% Of all work-related accidents last year

ILO, Turkish Statistical Institute

AP

The Soma mine was privatised in 2005.

An MP with Turkey's opposition CHP party has accused the government of rejecting a recent proposal for a parliamentary inquiry into mine accidents in Soma.

However, Reuters news agency quoted the Labour Ministry as saying its officials carried out regular inspections at the mine, most recently in March.

Turkey's worst mining disaster until now was in 1992, when 263 miners were killed near Zonguldak, on the Black Sea.